Coin bank and method of sorting coins



Oct. 14, 1969 J, w |x I 3,472,248

COIN BANK AND METHOD OF SORTING COINS :1 NOV. l, 1967 I 2 Sheets-Shget 1 Y. I0 41 /0 I 9 4 f 4 I r I; I 3) V f j 5 5 Z E /0 /0 'I" INVENTOR. JOHNTWARAIX BY CAEOTHERSCAROTHER$ H15 ATTOEA/E Y5 Oct. 14, 1969 J. T. WARRIX COIN BANK AND METHOD OF SORTING COINS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1-2 Filed Nov. 1, 1967 INYEXTOR. JOHN T Mme/x BY CAEO maksd (keen/ms 4! K- J I. H n l 3 I ad a United States Patent 3,472,248 COIN BANK AND METHOD OF SORTING COINS John Tyler Warrix, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to Wolverine Toy Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Nov. 1, 1967, Ser. No. 679,856 Int. Cl. G07d 3/00 U.S. Cl. 133--3 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A coin bank having a robot-shaped housing with a torso and downwardly extending transparent arms and legs providing independently classified coin storage compartments. A coin sorter is housed in the torso to distribute coins of various diameters to their respective storage compartments. The coins are sorted by pivotally mounted and counterweighted coin chutes which gauge the coin diameters and thereby either pass the coin on through the chute, or drop the coin intermediate the ends of the chute, or overweight the counterbalance to tip the chute and release the coin.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to coin banks and more particularly to coin banks which receive, sort and store coins of various diameters in classified coin storage compartments.

Coin sorting banks for children as heretofore known have in general been unable to simultaneously satisfy the two basic purposes of such coin banks as observed in connection with society demands of the present day. The first purpose to be served by such coin sorting banks is to provide a bank structure which will sort and distribute the coins to their respective compartments with positive coin selection and, secondly, to encourage children to learn saving habits by providing a bank structure which gives him induced enjoyment in depositing coins in the bank.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION It is the principal object of the present invention to overcome these prior deficiencies and at the same time to provide a coin sorting bank which is economical to manufacture.

The coin bank of the present invention gives induced enjoyment to encourage the user to deposit coins therein by providing a robot-shaped bank housing having a torso with downwardly extending, tubular arms and legs which provide independently classified coin storage compartments. A coin sorting means is mounted in the torso portion of the housing to sort and distribute the coins of various diameters to their respective coin storage compartments or limbs. The tubular limbs are preferably transparent and marked with indices to indicate the monetary amount stored therein.

A second novel structural feature of the present invention is provided in the coin sorting means which comprises a unit housing, a coin access mouth in the housing, an inclined coin sorting chute having a coin way therethrough and pivotally mounted in the unit housing for rotation about an axis normal to the coin way. The coin chute is biased oil or from level and has means to permit gravity transfer of coins from the access mouth to the coin way of the chute and is further provided with an abutment means in the upper open end or mouth of the chute to stop coins of a predetermined minimum diameter in the chute to thereby counterbias the chute and pivot it about the axis to release the coin from the same chute opening it entered to its respective coin compart- 3,472,248 Patented Oct. 14, 1969 ment. Coins having a diameter smaller than the predetermined minimum are permitted to pass on over the way and eventually to their respective coin compartments. The chutes may be pivoted or positioned such that the coin travels down the way by sliding on its face or by rolling on its edge. The coin sorting unit and method of the present invention thus provide a novel and positive means of coin selection and distribution for toy coin banks which eliminates distribution of coins to wrong compartments and prevents the sticking of coins in the sorting unit before they reach their destination.

When this novel method and structure for sorting coins is combined with the novel robot bank structure as previously mentioned, further invention is realized in the combination which provides a unique and novel computing robot which accurately sorts the coins and distributes them to their respective limbs.

Further enjoyment and encouragement is given to the depositor by providing a window in the coin sorting unit to permit viewing of the sorting mechanism in action.

A plurality of coin sorting chutes such as previously described may be pivotally mounted in the sorting unit in cooperative subjacent series to sequentially receive and progressively sort the coins classified by a preceding chute, but not yet released to a coin storage compartment, and progressively release the coins as finally classified to their respective coin compartments. In this connection, means may be provided to receive and direct the coins from a preceding chute to the next subjacent chute or coin compartment such as coin slides or other sorting chutes.

When the coin chutes are positioned such that the coins slide down the way of the chute on their face, a coin diameter gauge release, such as a gauged opening, may be provided in the bottom of the chute to permit coins of a predetermined maximum diameter to drop from the way intermediate the ends of the chute. In this manner, one chute provides three sorting functions; it sorts coins passing therein into three diameter classifications, namely; a predetermined maximum, a predetermined minimum and those intermediate.

The biasing of the inclined chutes is preferably provided by counterweighting the chutes, however, any equivalent or adequate means of biasing the chutes will suflice such as a spring or elastic bias means, so long as its biasing force permits the coins of predetermined minimum diameter which are stopped near the mouth of the chute to tip or pivot it about its axis and release it to its respective compartment or a subjacent coin sorting chute.

The biased coin chutes may be maintained in their desired inclined position to permit the gravity transfer of a coin from the coin access mouth in the unit housing to the chute or from the chute to a coin compartment or subjacent coin chute when the bank is in an upright position, by providing an abutment in the unit housing to limit the recovery movement of the chute caused by the counterweight recovery force or by merely providing an accurately calculated counterweight torque which will maintain the chute in the desired inclined position without the aid of any other structure.

Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the following description and claims.

The accompanying drawings show, for the purpose of exemplification without limiting the invention or the claims thereto, certain practical embodiments illustrating the principles of this invention wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the coin bank of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view in back elevation of the coin sorting unit shown in combination with the coin bank of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3a is a top view of one of the coin sorting chutes shown in the coin sorting unit of FIG. 2.

FIG. 3b is a bottom view of the coin chute shown in FIG. 3a.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the bottom coin chute shown in FIG. 2 as taken along line 4-4.

Referring to FIG. 1 the coin bank is provided with a robot shaped housing 1 which in turn consists of a torso housing 2 and limbs 3. The limbs 3 may be further subdivided into arms 4 and legs 5. The limbs 3 consist of transparent tubes which are employed as classified coin storage compartments. The legs 5 are closed at their bottom end by the foot or stand 6. Similarly, the tubular arms 4 are closed at their bottom end by the hands or closures 7.

The torso housing 2 provides an enclosure for a coin sorting unit or means to distribute coins of various diameters to their respective storage compartments or limbs 3. A coin access mouth 8 is provided at the upper end of the torso housing 2 to permit the access of coins into the interior of the torso 2 for sorting and distribution by the coin sorting means.

The tubular arms 4 and legs 5 are provided with the indices 10 to indicate the monetary amount of the coins 1=1 stored therein.

The coin storage unit provided by the limbs 3 is an integrally molded unit 9 and is provided with the flanges 29 to slidably receive the coin sorting unit as housed in the torso portion 2. A locking lug 39 extends outwardly from the bottom portion of the transparent back wall 27 of the torso to engage in side by side arrangement a similar locking lug (not shown) mounted on the back side of the coin storage unit 9. Both of these lugs have openings therethrough which communicate with each other when the torso 2 is slid down into the unit 9 such that a lock may be passed therethrough to lock the bank.

Referring to FIG. 2, one embodiment of the coin sorting unit of the present invention is shown. A coin chute 12 'having a coin way 13, as better shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b, is pivotally mounted in the torso housing 2 for rotation about the pin 14 which has an axis normal to the direction of way 13. The coin chute 12 is biased from level by means of the counterweight 15 which is provided at the lower end of the coin chute.

A coin receiving mouth 16 communicates with the way 13 at the upper end of the chute 12 and a coin exit 17 which also communicates with the way 13 is provided at the lower end of the chute. The abutment 18 provided by the upper portion of the coin slide 20 limits the downward movement of the counterweighted end or lower end of the chute 12 to permit the gravity transfer of a coin from the coin access mouth 8 to the coin receiving mouth 16 of the chute and also permits the gravity transfer of a coin passing through the chute 12 along the way 13 and exiting at exit 17 to one of the tubular arms 4 by way of the coin slide 21 and opening 22.

The gauge surfaces 23 in the coin receiving mouth 16 of the coin chute 12, as best shown in FIG. 3a, provides an abutment means in the receiving mouth to stop coins of a predetermined minimum diameter in the coin chute. In this instance the dashed outline 24 of a United States quarter is shown as a coin having a diameter larger than the predetermined minimum and is, therefore, stopped by the abutment means 23. The weight of the quarter will thereby counterbias the chute 12 by overcoming the torque provided by the counterweight 15 on the opposite side of the axis 14 to pivot the chute in the clockwise direction about axis 14 such that receiving mouth 16 is forced downwardly to release the stopped coin 24 to its respective coin compartment 4 by way of the coin slide 25 and opening 26.

The pin 14 is maintained in position by a small recess in the front wall 26 of the torso 2 and in the back wall 27 as indicated at 28. The back wall 27 is transparent to provide a window to permit the viewing of the coin sorting unit in action.

The transparent back wall 27 has overlying projections adjacent the side walls of the torso housing 2 to maintain it aligned therewith and is secured to the torso 2 by means of the screw 49 which is threadably received in the lug 50 which is in turn integrally molded to the housing 2.

The entire coin bank with the exception of pins 14 is preferably molded of a plastic such that the many different coin slides 30 are integrally molded with the torso housing 2. The coin slides 30 provide a means to receive and direct the coins as released from the coin chute 12 or coin chute 31.

Coin chute 31 is similarly pivoted about a pin 32 as is chute 12. The axis of pin 32 is normal to the direction of way 13. A counterbalance 15' is provided at the lower end of chute 31 to bias the same from level and to maintain the coin access mouth 16' aligned with the exit 33 of the coin guide means provided by the coin slides 20 and 34.

The coin slide 35 adjacent the lower end of chute 31 may operate as a limit means to permit the gravity transfer of a coin from exit 33 to coin access mouth 16' of chute 31. However, the counterbalance 15' of chute 31 is calculated to maintain exit 33 and the coin receiving mouth 16 in alignment when the coin bank is in an upright position without the aid of coin slide 35. Nevertheless, coin slide 35 prevents the coin access mouth 16 from moving in the clockwise direction beyond the exit 33.

The pin 32 is journaled in the recesses 14' formed in the front wall 26 of the torso housing 2 and the back wall 27.

Abutment means 23 is provided in the coin access mouth 16' of chute 31 to stop coins of a predetermined minimum diameter in the chute and thereby counterbias the same and pivot it counterclockwise such that the stopped coin as indicated by the dashed outline 36 is released to its respective coin compartment or transparent tubular leg 5.

The dashed outline 39 illustrates the position of the chute 31 when the coin 36 is being released. Similarly, the dashed outline 19 illustrates the dumping position of chute 12 when coin 24 is released to its respective coin compartment.

Referring again to the coin chute 12, a coin diameter gauge release 37 is provided in the bottom of the chute 12 to permit coins of a predetermined maximum diameter to drop from the way 13 intermediate the ends or exit and receiving mouth of the chute into the guide means provided by the coin slides 20 and 34. This maximum gauge diameter as provided by the opening of the gauge release 37 is smaller than the coin diameter gauge or gap provided by the abutment means 23 such that coins of intermediate diameter are permitted to pass on through the chute 12 along way 13 where it is received and directed by the coin slid-e 21 to its respective tubular storage compartment or arm 4.

Thus the coin chutes 12 and 31 are cooperatively mounted in a subjacent series to sequentially receive and progressively sort the coins classified by the first of said chutes released through the coin diameter gauge release 37. The coins are, therefore, progressively released as finally classified by each of the coin sorting chutes to their respective coin compartments.

Those coins which are small enough in diameter to pass through the gauge release 37 of the chute 12 and on to the coin receiving mouth 16' of chute 31 are sequentially sorted or classified once more by chute 31. Those coins having a diameter larger than the minimum specified by the abutment means 23 will be stopped in access mouth 16 to tip the chute and dump the coin as previously described. Those coins which have a diameter smaller than the predetermined minimum of abutment means 23' will be permitted to pass on through chute 31 along way 13 and out of exit 17' to the respective coin storage compartment or limb 5.

It is obvious from the above disclosure that other operative arrangements of the coin chutes may be made.

For example, the coin chutes may be pivoted in the torso housing 2 such that the coin rolls down the chute way rather than sliding on one of its faces. Or as another alternative, the subjacent coin chute 31 and the upper coin chute 12 along with the guide means or coin slides 30 may be repositioned such that the subjacent chute 31 receives coins as dumped or released from coin access mouth 16 of the upper chute instead of receiving them from the coin diameter gauge release 37. As a further example, the subjacent coin chute may be repositioned along with the other components of the coin sorting unit such that the coin receiving mouth 16' receives coins only from exit 17 of the upper chute. It is also obvious that more than two chutes of the type disclosed may be provided in subjacent levels within the torso 2 such that the uppermost coin sorting chute feeds coins only to the next succeeding subjacent coin chute or to two or more subjacent chutes. In other words, one might position the coin chutes such that those coins released, for example, from the gauge release 37 would be received only by chute 31 which would sequentially feed the coins passing therethrough, for example, to another chute subjacent the chute 31. As a separate example, one might provide two subjacent chutes 31 which would be positioned side by side such that one of the subjacent chutes 31 would receive coins from one of the release points 17, 37 or 16 of chute 12, and the other subjacent chute 31 would receive coins as released from another of the release points 17, 37 and 16 of chute 12.

Therefore, depending on the number of different coin dimensions to be sorted or classified and stored, one might provide different combinations of either the chute 12 or chute 31 or a combination of both cooperatively mounted in subjacent series to sequentially receive and progressively sort the coins as classified by a preceding chute but not yet released to one of the coin storage compartments and to thereafter progressively release the coins as finally classified to the respective coin compartments.

The present invention is furthermore not limited to any specific biasing means employed on the chutes 12 and 31. For example, weak elastomer or wire springs may be employed to bias the chutes in place of the counterweights and 15'. However, the results would certainly not be as satisfactory and the structure as shown and indicated in the different drawings is the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

I claim:

1. In a coin bank having a plurality of classified coin storage compartments, a coin sorting unit to distribute coins of various diameters to their respective storage compartments comprising a housing, a mouth in said housing to provide coin access to the housing interior, a coin chute having a coin way therethrough and pivotally mounted in said housing for rotation about an axis normal to said way and biased from level, a coin receiving mouth communicating with said way at the upper end of said chute, a coin exit communicating with said way at the lower end of said chute, means to permit the gravity transfer of a coin from said coin access mouth to said receiving mouth and from said coin exit to its respective coin storage compartment when said coin bank is in an upright position, abutment means in said receiving mouth to stop coins of a predetermined minimum diameter in said chute and thereby counterbias said chute and pivot said receiving mouth about said axis to release the stopped coin to its respective coin compartment, said Way being positioned to slide a coin on one of its faces, a coin diameter gauge release in the bottom of said chute to permit coins of a predetermined maximum diameter to drop from said way intermediate said exit and said receiving mouth through the bottom of said chute, said maximum gauge diameter being smaller than the coin diameter gauge gap provided by said abutment means to permit coins of intermediate diameter to pass on through said way, and means to receive and direct the coins released from said gauge release to their respective compartments,

2. The coin sortingunit of claim 1 characterized by a second coin chute having a coin way therethrough and pivotally mounted in a level subjacent to said first chute in said housing for rotation about an axis normal to said second way and biased from level, a coin receiving mouth communicating with said second way at the upper end of said second chute, a coin exit communicating with said second way at the lower end of said second chute, means to permit the gravity transfer of selected classified coins as released from said first chute to the receiving mouth of said second chute and as released from the exit of said second chute to the respective coin compartment, abutment means in said second receiving mouth to stop coins of a predetermined minimum diameter in said second'chute and thereby counterbias said second chute and pivot said second receiving mouth about axis to release the stopped coin to its respective coin compartment.

3. A coin sorting bank comprising a robot-shaped housing having 'a torso and limbs, said limbs providing independently classified coin storage compartments and said torso providing a housing for a coin sorting unit, a coin access mouth in the upper portion of said torso housing, a coin chute having a coin Way therethrough and pivotally mounted in said torso housing for rotation about an axis normal to said way, a coin receiving mouth communicating with said way at one end of said chute, a coin exit communicating with said way at the other end of said chute, a counterweight on said chute having its center of gravity on the opposite side of said axis from said mouth, means to permit the gravity transfer of a coin from said coin access mouth to said coin receiving mouth, abutment means in said receiving mouth to stop coins of a predetermined minimum diameter in said chute and thereby overcome the torque provided by said counterweight about said axis and pivot said receiving mouth downwardly about said axis to release the stopped coin, and coin guide means in said housing to receive and direct each classified coin as released from said chute exit and receiving mouths to its respective coin storage compartment limb, said way being positioned to slide coins on one of their two faces, a coin diameter gauge release in the bottom of said chute to permit coins of a predetermined maximum diameter to drop from said way intermediate said exit and said receiving mouth through the bottom of said chute, said maximum gauge diameter being smaller than the coin diameter gauge gap provided by said abutment means to permit coins of intermediate diameter to pass on through said way, :and means to receive and direct the coins released from said gauge release to their respective compartment limbs.

4. The coin sorting ban-k of claim 3 characterized by a second coin chute having a coin way therethrough and pivotally mounted in a level subjacent to said first chute in said torso housing for rotation about an axis normal to said second Way and biased from level, a coin receiving mouth communicating with said second way at the upper end of said second chute, a coin exit communicating with said second way at the lower end of said second chute, means to permit the gravity transfer of selected classified coins as released from said coin diameter gauge release and as released from the exit of said second chute to the respective coin compartment limb, abutment means in said second receiving mouth to stop coins of a predetermined minimum diameter in said second chute and thereby counterbias said second chute and pivot said second receiving mouth about said axis to release the stopped coin to its respective coin compartment limb 5. The coin sorting bank of claim 3 characterized by a window in said torso housing to permit viewing of the torso housing interior.

6. The coin sorting bank of claim 3 characterized by indices on said limbs to indicate the monetary amount of the coins stored therein, said limbs being transparent.

7. The method of sorting coins according to diameter for a coin bank comprising the steps of pivotally mountingan inclined surface to slidably receive a coin face on an axis normal to the direction of inclination, biasing the inclined surface to recover its original position of inclination upon tipping the same, moving coins on their face under gravitational force down the inclined surface, gauging the coin diameters along the inclined surface at a point intermediate the upper end thereof and the axis to pass coins having a diameter less than a predetermined maximum and to stop coins of a greater diameter to tip the inclined surface and release the coin, and gauging the coin diameters of those less than the predetermined maximum on the inclined surface to pass those coins having a diameter greater than a predetermined intermediate minimum and selectively drop those coins having a diameter less than the minimum.

References Cited SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner 

